Drugs linked to around 180 deaths in the UK are being sold on an app popular with teens.
Experts fear nitazenes – said to be 100 times stronger than heroin – could kill hundreds more people at parties and music festivals this summer. They are being sold online as pills that look like ecstasy tablets and it is feared revellers will unwittingly take them and overdose.
Dealers can get the drugs in the post from sellers whose listings we found on the mobile phone messaging app Telegram. One said: “I can provide nitazenes for a cheap price. We can offer samples too, as long as shipping is paid for.” The app has end-to-end encryption, making it almost impossible for law enforcement to infiltrate.
A BBC probe found the drug for sale on other platforms too. A police source said: “People take this believing it to be ecstasy. But it’s many times more dangerous.
“The dealers have no regard for life. It could kill 1,000 this summer – especially young people believing it is a party drug. Telegram has been told for years to clamp down on rogue material being sold. It is deeply disturbing.”
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Nitazenes are synthetic opioids that mimic the effects of natural opioids like opium or heroin. They were first identified in Wakefield, West Yorks, in 2021 and became a Class A drug earlier this year. They have been linked to nearly 180 deaths so far, around three a week, while in the US they have killed thousands.
Nitazenes were developed in the 1950s as a painkiller but never approved as they are so potent and addictive. Being relatively cheap to make, gangsters mix them with heroin and other drugs.
Former Met detective Peter Bleksley said: “This is incredibly worrying. Dealers know exactly what they are doing and it is evil. With summer festivals coming up, I fear the worst.” Telegram and the Home Office were approached for comment.
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